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Wednesday, 31 July 2013

I still haven't managed to get any pics of something close up with the new kit yet but soon will... bound to get some bold waders sooner or later. Here's a few pics which I was going to post yesterday until the Pec Sand took the limelight:

Tuesday, 30 July 2013

Finally we get something (relatively) rare on patch; only the 2nd one I've managed to see! It stayed very distant so I experimented with stacking multiple tele converters onto my 600mm. Very bad technique but the distance was definitely more digiscoping territory than DSLR photography. Here's the result:

Pretty naff really but it's the best I could do in the circumstances. I plan on getting up early tomorrow to give it another go before work. That's if I don't turn my alarm off in my sleep again...

Monday, 29 July 2013

Well it seems the news of my new camera gear has spread despite me trying to keep it quiet. I suppose it's pretty difficult to disguise the enormity of the 600mm lens though so it was only a matter of time before it was noticed! So I've now gone from having the smallest lens of the local wildlife photographers to having the largest, yay! On the downside it is VERY heavy, I've let some of the other photographers hold it and they can't lift it into a shooting position... but hey, I'm younger than most ;)

The 600mm is ideal for Black Hole Marsh as it's always difficult to get close enough to birds for decent pics. They're still usually a lot further away than I'd like but I certainly stand a greater chance of taking something half-decent with the new kit. Now all I need is a 1D X body for the 600mm and a 200-400mm for my current body for River Coly shooting... (£15K worth so I think not!!!).

I've been teasing myself with the idea of buying a 'big lens' for a long time now, so when a ridiculous offer was presented to me (thanks Alex & Joe) I finally got some balls and went for it. Hey, YOLO (if you're savvy with the lingo).

Now onto the pics. I've been out a LOT lately so have much blogging to catch up with. It was nice to see a Turnstone on the marsh yesterday but it never came close enough for a decent pic. A wader post will follow this one soon but for now enjoy these pics of Martins and the still-present showy juvenile Mediterranean Gull:

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

I cycled over to Black Hole Marsh this evening in the hope that the cloud and threatening rain would push some waders in our direction. No such luck with this though; best was 4 Dunlin, 7 Common Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank and 1 Green Sandpiper. There was also an adult Med Gull showing near Tower Hide but best of the evening was this juvenile Med which was showing quite close from the viewing platform (hole in the hedge next to it more like):

Sunday, 21 July 2013

I popped down to Black Hole Marsh at about 20:30 this evening (only free time I've had with any sunlight left, albeit very little) and managed some pics which I'm pretty pleased with considering the light levels. The Sun had gone down; the 'light look' of the pics was achieved by using manual camera settings. It was nice to find that an adult Little Ringed Plover has now joined the juvenile.

Friday, 19 July 2013

Here's a few more pics taken over the last week. It seems that the news of my recent lens purchase has spread! Today was the first time I actually saw another fellow patch birder-photographer whilst out with it (Sue Smith). I'm enjoying the long focal length of 600mm, although this isn't THAT monstrous; some bridge type digital cameras go to nearly double this and it's still completely incomparable to digiscoping for really distant subjects...

Young Shelduck

Emperor Dragonfly

Redshank

Young Shelduck

The Little Ringed Plover was still present this afternoon, Dunlin numbers similar to yesterday, 3 Greenshank and 1 Med Gull on BHM.

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

I've got about 3 posts to do but struggling with time at the moment. Here's the first of them though. These pics were taken over the last two days; the LRP has been on Black Hole Marsh since Monday rather than yesterday as other reports have implied. I managed some quite pleasing pics of this little one! Pretty distant but decent light has meant I could crop the shot in post-production and maintain acceptable image quality. Enjoy :)

Monday, 15 July 2013

I was feeling a bit rough at work this morning so I booked this afternoon off to have a rest. By rest I mean cycle to Black Hole Marsh (motorbike is out of action) and take some wildlife pics. There wasn't anything particularly unusual to see; the best was 7 Dunlin, 2 Greenshank, 4+ Common Sandpipers and a few dragonfly species. I'll post some pics of these in the next day or two.
I then spent the evening out at sea with some work colleagues, and what a lovely evening it was too! The sea was nice and calm and the air was a pleasant temperature with the boat-speed induced breeze. However, it didn't take long until some of us were sporting interesting patterns of Mackerel blood and poo on our legs and clothes etc. Delightful! The fishing did give me opportunity to take these Gull pics though:

Wednesday, 10 July 2013

After having an enjoyable late evening at BHM last night I thought I'd pop down again tonight. It turned out to be good decision as there was a nice partial summer plumage Ruff there, along with 2 Little Ringed Plover. It was also nice to see my first Emperor Dragonfly of the year. Other birds of note on BHM were 2 Common Gull, 1 Shoveler and 1 Mediterranean Gull. I'm sorry that this is turning into more of a photo diary rather than a blog; I've got a very busy few weeks but will get back to saying more soon!
In the meantime enjoy these...

About Me

I'm 26 and have had a keen interest in wildlife since before my teenage years. I love the thrill of rarity finding and have a great interest in my local area; particularly the River Coly & River Axe. Away from birding, I'm a Company Exec Director and also a Business Owner.